The present invention relates generally to mechanical closure systems, and more particularly to a preformed strap that is reformable by a user into a desired geometry that is different from an original geometry.
Mechanical closure systems are used extensively in the sports, medical and transportation industries. These closure systems typically use plastic strap such as a ladder strap. A ladder strap is formed with a top side that includes a number of transverse ridges that are sequentially engaged by a latching mechanism. In the sports industry, for example, mechanical closure systems are used in harnessing devices on such items as snowboard bindings, ski boots, wake board bindings and inline skates.
For most applications, conventional straps such as ladder straps are purposely preformed with a curved geometry where the top side is convex and a bottom side is concave, so as to enclose around an object such as a foot or limb, or a part of a device. Alternatively, conventional straps are preformed flat and straight, with no curvature. However, regardless of an original geometry, conventional straps are made to resiliently return to that original geometry.
The preformed geometry of conventional straps can interfere with easy ingress and egress of an object in a mechanical closure system. In fact, conventional straps may become bent unnaturally by the object or caught on a sharp edge of a device onto which the object is held or enclosed. In the sport of snowboarding, for example, a user needs to manually hold open a padded boot enclosure system in order to step into a binding, and very often in inclement environments. The straps, in their original geometry, may be stepped on or held too far beyond a desired or useful geometry, leading to breakages or weakening of the straps.